Our People
24 September, 2025
The fish and chip king is hanging up his apron
THE end of an era has come for a true small business icon of the region following an announcement this week that George and Kids Fish n Chips is changing hands.
George Kondis brought his traditional Greek approach to fish and chips to the region in the mid ‘90s when he made the move from Melbourne to open George’s Fish Shop in the middle of Barkly Street, Ararat, and he quickly became renowned for using high quality ingredients and producing excellent fast food.
After selling the shop and returning to Melbourne, George realised he’d become accustomed to the country lifestyle and 13 months later he and his family young family returned to Ararat and established Fish on Barkly.
“They were beautiful years, lovely people, lovely town,” George said about his time in Ararat.
“Then I got sick and had to have an operation, and I put the shop for lease, not for sale but then a few months later the operator made me an offer I’d have to be silly to refuse, so I sold the shop and had a bit of a break.”
Fast forward to 2014 and George was back to doing what he does best, this time renovating a premises at 54 Seaby Street, Stawell, to create his new family business, and to share his passion for quality fish and chips in a new community.
“We started on 5th of August 2014,” said George, “And from then until today, I’ve been happy, it’s a nice town, people respect us and we respect them.”
After a long career operating several successful outlets, George believes the key to success as a fish and chip vendor comes down to focussing on the basics.
“The key is to use good products, don’t worry about the prices, use good oil, show the customers what they’re eating and what you put in there, keep the oil clean and you can’t go wrong,” he said.
“I’m also fussy with the cleaning unlike some people who don’t wash their hands.
“You have to give people a good product to make them satisfied because they pay you money and keep coming back.”
For George, his reputation for producing a quality product for his customers is something he’s sincerely proud of.
“Word of mouth is the best advertising, better than being on the telly,” he said, “people know I travel to Melbourne to buy fresh fish.”
“You walk in my shop and say hello to me, see me in the street and say hello to me, it’s like I win the Tattslotto because respect, you can’t buy it, you earn it.”
The idea of retirement hasn’t quite sunk in for George yet, though he does still have a little bit of time to think about it, as he’ll be lending a hand around the shop for the new owners until November.
“This is something strange to me because I’ve been working from seven years old,” said George.
“I have three beautiful kids, I’m happy I’ve got a good family, and what I’m going to do when I’m retired hasn’t crossed my mind yet because I’ve never done it before.
It’s going to be something different, and I said to my wife, we’re gonna take it as a mystery trip, we’ll get up in the morning, open our eyes and then decide what we’ll do and where we’re gonna go.”
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